1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear gate door for vehicle, specifically, a rear gate door for vehicle, which can simplify an assembling work in a vehicle body assembly line.
2. Discussion of Background
In general, a door for a vehicle has a door body that is formed by joining an outer panel to an inner panel by welding. The inner panel is arranged on a cabin side and is provided opposite to the outer panel. A space is formed between the outer panel and the inner panel. The outer panel has a panel portion in a shape of a dish or a substantially flat plate. The panel portion becomes an outer plate of a vehicle body when the outer panel is attached to the vehicle body. The inner panel has a panel portion in a shape like a dish or a substantially flat plate, opposite to the panel portion of the outer panel when the inner panel is joined to the outer panel. Usually, the outer panel and the inner panel are stamped steel plates. In the space inside the door body, door-installed components such as electric equipment and so on are accommodated.
A rear gate door of a vehicle such as a hatch back or a wagon has a rotating shaft connected to a wiper motor, a license lamp, etc., which are exposed from an outer side surface of the vehicle in the panel portion of the outer panel. In the space inside the door body, a large amount of electrical equipment, such as a wiper motor, a high mount stop light, and a wire harness, is accommodated. The electrical equipment is assembled inside the door body through a maintenance hole that is formed in the panel portion of the inner panel by manual operation of a worker in an assembly line.
In some vehicles a conductor-printed glass or a glass having a heating wire is used as a window glass plate of a rear gate door for defogging and defrosting. In this case, a connecting portion such as a terminal and a connector for supplying an electric power to the conductor is located in the glass plate in the vicinity of an opening for the window in the door body. The connecting portion is attached to a tip of a conductive wire that is wired inside the door body of the rear gate door.
In general, the maintenance hole is very small. The process of assembling the large amount of electrical equipment and wiring the wire harness and the conductive wire at various positions on the rear gate door through such a small maintenance hole has been vexatious, complicated, and requires quite a long time. Recently, vehicle manufacturers have attempted to develop rear gate doors that can be easily disassembled in order to facilitate recycling of a door body and door-installed components.
The present invention provides a rear gate door for a vehicle, by which the process of assembling the door in an assembly line and installing the door into a vehicle body is simplified and the process of a work of disassembling the door is facilitated.
The present invention advantageously provides a rear gate door for a vehicle including at least an outer panel having a first panel portion that is a vehicle body outer plate when it is attached to the vehicle body. The rear gate door includes an inner panel having a second panel portion that is arranged opposite to the first panel portion so as to form a space therebetween when it is attached to a cabin side of the outer panel. The rear gate door further includes door-installed components including electrical equipment. Window openings are formed on upper sides of the first panel portion and the second panel portion, and an opening portion is formed below the window opening of the first panel portion or the window opening of the second panel portion. A module panel assembled with the door-installed components and a first connecting portion for supplying an electric power from an outside to the door-installed components is attached to the opening portion, and the first connecting portion is electrically connected to a second connecting portion, equipped in the first panel portion or the second panel portion.
The upper sides of the first panel portion and the second panel portion designate a side along a roof of the vehicle in the panel portions when the panel portions are attached to the vehicle. Although there is no specific limitation in modes of the opening portion and the module panel, it is preferable that the module panel is engaged with the opening portion. A terminal, a connector, and so on can be adopted as the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion.
In the above-mentioned rear gate door for the vehicle, the door-installed components are attached to the module panel in a state that the door-installed components, including the electrical equipment, are easily wired. The assembling of the door-installed components is completed by attaching the module panel to the opening portion formed in the first panel portion or the second panel portion. Further, the electrical equipment is concentrated on and attached to the module panel, and an electric power is supplied to the electrical equipment by an electric connection between the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion, a wire harness for the electrical equipment is easily wired. Accordingly, the process of assembling the rear gate door into the body in an assembly line is simplified. When the door is disassembled for recycling, the door-installed components are simultaneously taken out when the module panel is taken out of the first panel portion or the second panel portion. Accordingly, the process of disassembling the door is facilitated.
In the rear gate door of the present invention, it is preferable that a window glass plate that is equipped with a conductor is attached to the above-mentioned window opening, the connecting portion of the conductor for supplying an electric power to the conductor is assembled in the above-mentioned module panel, and the above conductor is electrically connected to the above conductor connecting portion.
In the rear gate door for the vehicle having such a structure, by attaching the module panel to the opening portion, an electric power can be supplied to the conductor in the glass plate that is equipped with the conductor for defogging and defrosting. Accordingly, the process of wiring the wire harness for supplying an electric power to the conductor in the glass plate is unnecessary, whereby the process of assembling the body in an assembly line is simplified.